Hornaday Jr. aims for ‘Texas Three Peat’ at Texas Motor Speedway

FORT WORTH — NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Ron Hornaday Jr. has a lot of things on his mind.

Not only does he want to win the NCWTS championship this season, he also wants to win this third straight NCWTS victory at the 1.5-mile speedway on Friday night when he competes in the Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

“It is always special to get a win; I really don’t care where you’re at,” Hornaday Jr. said. “But to win three races in a row at the same place shows just how dominant a team can be there.”

Texas Motor Speedway had eight consecutive different winners from 1997 through the fall race of 2002 when the Truck Series first raced at this track.

However, when Brendan Gaughan drove into Victory Lane in June 2003, everything changed. Gaughan went on to win four consecutive victories through the fall of 2004. In the 10 races since Gaughan’s last victory, Hornaday Jr., along with Todd Bodine have accounted for six wins, with the last two coming from Hornaday.

“I’m not sure that we have found just one thing that makes us better at the 1.5-mile tracks,” Hornaday Jr. said. “Rick (Ren, crew chief) and the guys have worked on our aero package and several things under the hood that have made our Chevrolet Silverado stronger at these types of tracks.”

Last June, Hornaday Jr. led a record 140 laps of the 172-lap event and held off Kyle Busch by 0.283 seconds in a green/white-checkered finish to post his first truck series win at TMS. In November, Hornaday Jr. led the final 40 laps en route to a 0.957-second victory over Busch and won his sixth victory of the season.

This weekend, Hornaday Jr. enters the race leading the NCWTS championship standings by 27 points over Mike Skinner and 29 over Matt Crafton. In addition, Hornaday is tied for the series lead in poles (2) with Kyle Busch and also tied with Skinner, Todd Bodine, Kevin Harvick and Brian Scott with one win each in the series.

Bodine is another NCWTS driver who is looking to rebound and finish strong at TMS this weekend. Winless since the opening race at Daytona, Bodine hopes to return to Victory Lane at Texas and if he does, he will become the first to win five times at TMS.

“What having four wins at Texas means for this Copart Tundra team is that we know we can win at Texas and know we can get around there,” said Bodine. “Racing at the mile-and-a-half is about going fast and being patient.”

Absent from the field for this race is Kyle Busch. Busch, who last year at this race attempted a trifecta as he competed in three different races in three different series across three different states, will not be at Texas this weekend to drive the No. 51 Samsung Instinct Toyota. Instead he will concentrate on competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday in Nashville and the Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday in Pocono.

Instead, Billy Ballew Motorsports has hired 23-year old Brian Ickler to drive the truck this weekend. Ickler’s first appearance in the NCWTS came earlier this season at Kansas where he finished a strong fifth.

Ickler spent three years racing in the NASCAR Camping World Series East (2008) and West (2006-2007). He had a combined six wins and one pole award for the 2006 Toyota All-Star Showdown.

Qualifying begins tonight at 6 p.m. The NCWTS Winstar World Casino 400 will be held at 8 p.m. on Friday. The 167-lap, 250.5-mile race will air live on SPEED TV.

Truck Notes

On a roll: The NCTWS race at Texas this weekend is the second race of a five-weekend swing that takes the truck teams from Dover, Del, to Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Tennessee. It is the most pivotal part of the season in regards to the point’s championship for the truck series drivers.

Texas boys: Three Truck Series drivers, along with an owner and a crew chief are from Texas and will be at the races on Friday night.

David Starr of Houston, who drives the No. 24 Zachary Toyota, has 21 starts at TMS, finishing third on three occasions.

Colin Braun of Ovalo, who pilots the No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford, finished fifth and 22nd at TMS in 2008.

Joey Sonntag, a Dallas area native who formerly owned a NCWTS team, returns as crew chief for J.J. Yeley in the No. 73 County Building Centers/Circle M Toyota.

James Buescher of Plano will be driving the No. 10 International MAXX Force Diesel Ford owned by Ozona, Tex.’s Tom Mitchell. His Circle Bar Racing teammate, Rick Crawford, has competed in all 22 TMS races.

Continuous racing: This weekend Texas Motor Speedway will host the 23rd NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday night. When TMS came aboard in 1997, the facility was the fastest speedway on the schedule. TMS is also one of two tracks that will host two NCWTS races in 2009. Martinsville is the other.

Historically speaking: Toyota trucks have a strong record at TMS. Toyota posted its fifth victory of the season at Dover and has extended its Manufacturers’ Championship standings lead to nine points over Chevrolet. Tundra trucks have won five times at TMS since they joined the series in 2004.

Manufacturer momentum: After winning three consecutive manufacturer’s championships (2006-08) in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Toyota is seeking its fourth title in six years competing in the series.

First win: Texas Motor Speedway also has crowned four first-time winners since the series began racing at The Great American Speedway.

Ticket deal: TMS is offering a great ticket package for the NCWTS race on Friday night. Fans can purchase four Winstar World Casino 400 frontstretch tickets, four hot dogs and four Coca-Colas for just $79 with the Brookshire’s Family 4-Pack. Fans can visit the TMS ticket office or call (817) 215-8500.